3 Ways To Improve Your Financial Health
“Personal finance” is a term which refers to the way you manage your money and how you plan for the future. All of your current financial decisions and activities have an impact on your financial health, both now and in years to come.
Often, we are guided by certain phrases or “rules” which have been passed through the generations, such as “don’t buy a house which costs more than 3 years salary” or “you should save 10% of your monthly income for your retirement”. Whilst many of these wisened quotes stand the test of time and truly are helpful, it is important that we take a closer look at what we should be doing in general when it comes to improving our financial health and spending habits.
Work out your net worth and personal budget
Money comes in, and then money goes out. For many, this is pretty much as far as their understanding of money and personal finance goes. Rather than ignoring your finances and chancing whether you have the money needed for your planned purchases, a bit of budgeting can help you to reevaluate your current financial health and determine how you can reach both your short and long term financial goals.
As a starting point, it is vital for you to calculate your net worth, which is the difference between what you own and owe. To do this, you need to calculate your net worth by taking note of your assets, which you own, and your liabilities, which you owe.
If you have property, or own business properties, then you should list these and you may want to discuss this with a chartered surveyors, Manchester based if you believe there may be a change in the property valuation. By tracking your net worth over time, this allows you to evaluate your successes and identify potential areas which require improvement.
Recognise inflation
Most individuals will spend more money if there is more money to spend. When people advance in their careers and go on to earn higher salaries there is often a correlating increase in terms of spending, which is something known as lifestyle inflation.
Whilst you might be able to still pay your bills, lifestyle inflation can be extremely damaging in the long run as it limits the ability to build wealth. It isn’t uncommon for people to feel the need to match the lifestyles of their peers and friends. It’s easy to overlook the fact that actually, this way of spending leads to a lot of debt as people battle to keep up.
If you own business properties, then you might want to review the rent you currently charge. Due to inflation, you may find … Read more
Posted: July 8, 2020 by Ginger
The Costs of Poor Business Website Design Choices
Professional web design is not cheap. Don’t expect high-quality sites to be obtainable for free or a rock bottom price. In the UK, the cost can be in the £400 to £900 range. Web designers at https://xist2.com/ offer competitive pricing, but they most certainly cannot provide integrated designs at zero cost.
It takes creativity, knowledge about the latest trends and competent technical skills to come up with great site designs. It’s understandable why designers don’t settle for prices that don’t match the effort and time they spend on a project. But, enough of the emphasis on spending for quality web development services. The discussion here is about the costs of making the wrong web design decisions.
High bounce rates
Bounce rate refers to the ratio of the number of site visitors who leave a site after viewing only one page and the total number of site visitors. Here’s an illustration: if seven out of 10 visitors decide to abandon a site after only seeing the homepage, the bounce rate is 70%. This is considerably higher than the preferable range of 26% to 40%.
High bounce rates mean an inability to attract customers. The reasons for such high bounce rates include but aren’t limited to bad aesthetics, poor navigation, non-intuitive layout and technical problems. It can be interpreted as lost sales due to the listed reasons; something businesses should address as soon as possible.
Unflattering first impressions
For most customers, web design is about the aesthetics and experience. You can’t blame customers for leaving if your online store’s design and UI is reminiscent of the pioneering iteration of HTML. First impressions may not always last, but they determine if a prospective customer becomes an actual buyer.
Avoid losing potential customers by making sure that your ecommerce site leaves a good impression that compels visitors to spend more time and, ultimately, click the ‘Buy’ button. Ensure that your website is in tune with the times, fast-loading, and free from glitches that can ruin the user experience.
Lost regular customers or patrons
Bad design does not only drive new customers away. It can also cause customers to abandon an online store that they frequent. Implementing a website design change, for example, can result in adverse reactions from regular customers.
If you update your online store’s layout, for example, you risk the possibility of alienating many customers who prefer the old interface and processes. They might find the change too radical, so they end up trying other sites. To avoid this, it is advisable to introduce changes gradually. You can also provide customers the option to revert to the old design if they don’t like the upgrades.
The bottom-line
Technically, lost customers are not … Read more